House endorses Appropriation Bill, but govt has to wait for few more days to spend budget

KATHMANDU: The meeting of the House of Representatives on Monday endorsed the Appropriation Bill tabled by Finance Minister Janardan Sharma. Though the Bill was passed amid protest, the way has still not been paved to spend the budget.

Minister Sharma on September 10 had tabled a replacement bill for the budget ordinance brought by the erstwhile KP Sharma Oli-led government.

The Parliament meeting was postponed till Monday as the bill could not be passed by the Parliament within 72 hours of its introduction.

The government also faced ‘a budget holiday after’ after it failed to pass the replacement bill within September 15.

Though the Parliament passed the Appropriation Bill amid sloganeering from the main opposition CPN-UML, the government cannot spend the budget at present.

Finance Minister Sharma tabled Appropriation Bill, Finance Bill and Bill to Raise National Debt to replace Appropriation Ordinance, Finance Ordinance and Ordinance to Raise National Debt.

The discussion on the Finance Ordinance and Ordinance to Raise National debt has been scheduled for Thursday.

Only the Appropriation Bill was endorsed from the Parliament today to buy time for the National Assembly. Apparently, the Finance Ordinance and Ordinance to Raise National Debt also have to be passed from the Parliament.

There is a provision that the bill should be sent to the President for authentication after the passage of the Appropriation Bill.

The government can use the budget only after the President certifies and publishes the notice in the Gazette.

“The Parliament endorses the Appropriation Bill today. Now, it will be sent to the National Assembly for endorsement. The bill will be sent back again to the House of Representatives from the National Assembly and the government can spend the budget after authentication by the President,” Parliament Secretariat spokesperson Rojnath Pandey said.